Inflammatory activation is associated with a reduced glucocorticoid receptor alpha/beta expression ratio in monocytes of inpatients with melancholic major depressive disorder.

ABSTRACT: In this study, we used new technology to investigate whether a coherent pattern of enhanced expression of inflammatory and other immune activation genes in circulating monocytes is found in patients with major depression. Since a high inflammatory state of monocytes might be related to glucocorticoid resistance, we also included the genes for the two isoforms of the glucocorticoid receptor. For this study, we aimed at finding a similar coherent pattern of inflammatory and immune activation genes in monocytes of patients with MDD and recruited 47 medication-free melancholic MDD inpatients and 42 healthy controls. A quantitative-polymerase chain reaction (Q-PCR) monocyte gene expression analysis was performed using a panel of inflammatory-related genes previously identified as abnormally reg

SUBMITTER: Carvalho LA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3905228 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature